The invention relates to ski maintenance apparatus and in particular to a ski clamping apparatus for supporting skis of either the cross-country of Alpine type in a convenient position for waxing, scraping or otherwise maintaining their sliding surfaces.
Those familiar with the sport of skiing have long recognized the need to continuously maintain the condition of their skis by scraping or otherwise smoothing the bottom gliding surfaces and applying suitable waxes to enable optimum sliding conditions on various types of snow. In the past, a wide variety of different types of ski maintenance equipments have been developed to aid skiers in expeditiously performing such necessary maintenance tasks. One example of a relatively recent form of such ski maintenance apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,008 --Mayers. The Mayers patent teaches the use of a portable ski clamping support base that employs a plurality of blocks mounted on the base to hold a pair of Alpine type skis adjacent to the base. This holding means is simplified by utilizing the resilient camber of the skis to interact with the blocks mounted on the support base in a predetermined manner to clamp the skis in a desired position. The Mayers apparatus is useful both in sharpening the metal edges of such skis and in providing a working surface to enable a skier to dress the sliding surface of his skis by scraping and waxing them.
While the type of portable ski maintenance apparatus shown by the Mayers patent has numerous advantages and, consequently, has enjoyed considerable commercial success, it has been found that it is frequently desirable to secure a ski in a relatively more rigid position on a support base when the ski is being scraped and waxed than is possible with the Mayers type of support alone.
Various prior art devices, such as the one disclosed in the Mayers patent, have provided means for holding skis in a generally fixed position while the sides of the cutting edges of the skis are being filed; however, those devices fail to provide convenient means for securing the skis in a relatively rigid position when the bottom surfaces of the skis are to be scraped, waxed, etc. Of course, with an apparatus such as that disclosed in the Mayers patent, it is possible for a skier to manually hold a ski in position against the supporting blocks on its support base, but if that is done a further disadvantage exists. This second disadvantage arises due to the fact that when a ski is manually held against the supporting blocks of such a ski clamping support, the ski is likely to bend beyond its normal camber when scraping or waxing operations are performed on the bottom surface of the ski. Such bending causes the ski to be depressed below the upwardly protruding surfaces of the intermediate blocks that are positioned on the Mayers clamping apparatus to hold the skis against their camber during sharpening operations. If this type of flexing occurs, either the skier's hand, or his scraping tools will tend to strike against the intermediate blocks, thus causing injury to either the skier or the block means, or at a minimum causing the skier to lose control of the scraper or wax spreader.
A major object of the present invention is to provide a portable ski clamping apparatus that affords the advantages of related prior art apparatus, such as that disclosed in the above-referenced Mayers patent, while at the same time overcoming disadvantages of prior art apparatus such as those enumerated above.
Another object of the invention is to provide a ski clamping apparatus having rugged, inexpensive and easily operable latching means that are effective to quickly secure either an Alpine type or a cross country type of ski in position thereon to facilitate maintenance operations on the sliding surface of the ski.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an improved latching means useful with the type of portable ski maintenance apparatus disclosed in the above-mentioned Mayers patent so that the bottom gliding surface of skis can be quickly and conveniently secured in a relatively fixed position in a plane above the intermediate block means of the apparatus, so that a skier can work on the bottom ski surface without being concerned about the ski flexing to a position such that his hand or his tools might strike the immediate block means.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description of it that follows taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.